Hockey already has some weird lingo with slang terms like biscuit, clapper, peanut butter and gong show. But boner?
Apparently, boner is on the list too. At least it was for longtime Boston Bruins TV play-by-play voice Jack Edwards, who dropped a “boner” during his Monday night broadcast on NESN, and it wasn’t by accident.
Early in the second period of Boston’s game against the Seattle Kraken, Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark let up a goal prompting Edwards to utter one of the strangest lines of his career, which is saying a lot for the popular announcer.
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“Eberle pots the gift,” Edwards said after the goal. “Welp, that’s one each way on goalie boners on this trip.”
Goalie boners? Is that a thing? Aside from its primary meaning, boner also means a stupid mistake or an embarrassing blunder, particularly in sports history thanks to the 116-year-old “Merkle’s Boner.” One of the most famous plays in baseball history, where Fred Merkle was forced out on a potential game-winning hit because he allegedly failed to advance to second base.
The goal Edwards was describing was soft, as Kraken forward Jordan Eberle managed to slip one past the goalie. Maybe it wasn’t as egregious as Merkle’s Boner, but Edwards appeared to use the term to emphasize that the goal came from a blunder by Ullman. But because of its primary meaning as it pertains to…well, we’ll just say it to appease Chris Wyttingham, as it pertains to penises, it’s still jarring to hear an announcer use the word boner.
Seattle went on to beat the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout win that was undoubtedly helped by the second period boner.
[NESN]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com